[Active-l] (NEWS) Today's Cultural Warfare Update

[Dara (R'ykandar Korra'ti)]

There's more going on than is covered in this CWA, but I wanted to  
get this one out, since I've been trying to get it going for a few  
days. Highlights... well, there aren't really highlights to the  
World's Worst Webcomic, but I try.

And now, today's news:

Focus on the Family's James Dobson responds to the researchers who  
went vocally public about his lies about their work, asserting that  
he did no such thing, and implicitly asserting that he knows their  
research did better than they do; their headline is "Dobson Rebuffs  
Gay Activists Over Time Article," trying to divert attention away  
from the researchers' complaints and to queers;

American Family Association/Agape Press demands Congress excise pr0n  
from the military, blames "behavior as seen in the Abu Ghraib photos"  
on "lust" and pornography "addictions";

Daily Mail article on Northern Ireland religious protests against  
GBLT rights; of course, they have the Let's Scare the Str8s photo up;

Muslim taxi drivers at the Minnesota airport system still refusing to  
carry passengers based on religious dictate about "cooperating in sin";

Focus on the Family applauds Pope complaints that people in Europe  
aren't having enough children;

FotF complains about judicial nominations again; ACTION ITEM to  
declare, this time, "fair treatment" of Bush nominees to the courts;  
note that they've stopped asking for "up or down votes";

FotF: Georgia legislator Melvin Everson introduces comprehensive  
abortion ban, decreeing that "life begins at conception"; make that a  
matter of law and you ban the birth control pill, which is, well, the  
idea in the long run;

New Kansas AG to dismiss the previous AG's special prosecutor in  
charge of searching medical records to look for anti-abortion charges  
to bring against clinics providing abortion services;

Vermont legislator to introduce GBLT marriage bill; Focus on the  
Family, et al., to oppose; state group also favours Federal anti- 
marriage bill;

How to change a study's result: a pair of researchers report that  
Plan B's availability has not had an effect on pregnancy or abortion  
rates, and state that the methodology for determining field  
effectiveness of the drug is flawed; Focus on the Family changes that  
to "proof" that Plan B "doesn't work" and should be made prescription- 
only. Note that this is emergency contraception, _not_ RU-486, the  
"abortion pill";

FotF ACTION ITEM against H.R.3, the bill moving through Congress now  
to support stem-cell research generally;

ADF, Focus on the Family defending a nurse reduced from full-time to  
part-time status at her hospital for refusing to dispense the morning- 
after birth-control pill (emergency contraception) because of her  
religious beliefs; see the taxi issue above for comparison purposes;

FotF notes Washington State Senator Ed Murray's plans to introduce  
reciprocal-benefits and civil unions bills; they point to our very  
own set of fundamentalist asshats, the Faith and Freedom Network;

South Dakota law requires doctors to tell patients that "abortion...  
ends a human life" and other anti-abortion rhetoric; there's a  
lawsuit against it now;

Focus on the Family launches a major ACTION ITEM campaign against a  
lobbying reform bill; they seem mostly upset with a reporting  
requirement; I don't know whether they have a point or not, but  
they're sure working hard to stop it;

FotF story on the anti-Dr. George Tiller, anti-abortion-clinic  
special prosecutor appointed by previous attourney general; "Morrison  
said he would fire me because I was not a 'neutral third party.'  
That's a smoke screen," McKinney said. "Nobody is neutral about  
aborting late-term babies. A special prosecutor isn't supposed to be  
neutral, he's supposed to prosecute the defendant";

Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM for an amendment striking section 220  
of S. 1, the lobbying reform bill; this section would require  
disclosure of expenditures; see two items above for more on that;  
Dobson claims the intent of the section's disclosure requirement is  
"to hide what goes on from the public... and to punish and silence  
those of us who would talk about what the Congress is doing";

FotF email-only ACTION ITEM to sign a petition against S.1, or to  
delete section 220;

FotF attacks National Council of Churches is a purely-political front  
for liberal causes with no good theological backing; oh the irony;

FotF attacks the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Moderate Baptists  
as liberal front groups;

FotF short article about African Anglicans snubbing American bishop  
Katherine Schori; notes also a couple of Episcopalian churches moving  
to African jurisdiction over GBLT issues; does not talk explicitly  
about the position of the African Anglican bishop in particular that  
GBLT people should be illegal, probably because they don't like  
saying that in those terms, even though that's what they're talking  
about when they go on about the need to overturn Lawrence v. Texas  
(2003), which said you couldn't do that anymore;

Faith and Freedom Network campaigns against DP benefits in any form -  
Ed Murray has a bill in to provide DP benefits for health and  
hospitalisation purposes - and also against Ed Murray's DOA marriage  
bill; the DP benefits bill allows old heterosexual unmarried couples  
to register as well;

FFN news item against GBLT marriage rights, saying God requires  
opposition ("God requires that we stand up for what matters," which  
is to say, keeping queers furtive and miserable;

American Family Association ACTION ITEM against Senate Bill 1,  
specifically section 220, which reportedly requires disclosure of  
lobbying efforts;

AFA takes credit for Ford Motor's financial troubles, attacks Ford  
for advertising on TV shows with any GBLT content at all, most  
recently an episode of _Cold Case_ on CBS; includes ACTION ITEM  
against Ford Motor and all Ford-related brand dealerships;

American Family Association condemns Sears for advertising on LOGO, a  
GBLT-themed cable TV channel; includes ACTION ITEM to cease all  
advertising on LOGO;

AFA/Agape Press news roundup includes all sorts of fun, including  
allegations that former President Jimmy "Camp David Peace Accords"  
Carter is anti-semitic for opposing Israeli policy towards the West  
Bank and Gaza;

AFA pushes support for Georgia blanket abortion ban which also  
defines "life" as starting at conception - which would ban most forms  
of hormonal birth control, as well;

Concerned Women for America ACTION ITEM against S. 1, the lobbying  
reform bill, in its current form; they want it amended to strike the  
disclosure requirements they oppose;

CWA's Matt Barber condemns any attempt to revisit the military's gay  
and lesbian service ban; I think they're getting defensive about all  
the men representing Concerned _Women_ for America - the refer to him  
as "one of the 'like-minded men' with Concerned Women for America"  
who "serves as CWA's Policy Director for Cultural Issues";

Concerned Women for America _does not understand Japan_; result:  
_hilarity_;

CWA sends out their "talking points" on "amniotic stem cell research."


----- 1 -----
Dobson Rebuffs Gay Activists Over Time Article
Allegation that the child development expert 'cherry-picked' research  
is preposterous.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
01-09-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000003582.cfm

America's foremost radio advocate for children has fired back against  
allegations he misused research when he wrote an article in a  
December issue of Time on the topic of children raised in  
"alternative" homes.

In his January newsletter to constituents, Focus on the Family  
Chairman Dr. James Dobson said the criticism he's taken for the piece  
is because "the views expressed in this article run counter to  
everything our liberal, politically correct culture holds dear."

[...]

One homosexual activist took it upon himself to convince some of the  
scientists whose research Dobson referenced to complain.

One of those researchers, Dr. Kyle Pruett of Yale Medical School,  
wrote Time to complain Dobson had "cherry-picked" -- or used quotes  
out of context -- when he quoted from Pruett's book, Fatherneed: Why  
Father Care is as Essential as Mother Care for Your Child. Pruett  
went so far as to demand that Dobson stop referring to this work.

Dobson was stunned at the allegation.

"Something is strange here," he wrote in his newsletter. "Doesn’t the  
title (of Pruett's book) itself proclaim the significance of  
fathering in the well-being of children? Of course it does. The  
phrase that Dr. Pruett said I 'cherry-picked' was this: 'fathers do  
not mother.' Incidentally, that is the title of the first chapter of  
his book!"

[More at URL]


----- 2 -----
Military Porn Addictions Growing
WDC MEDIA NEWS
Christian News and Media Agency
Originally from Agape Press/American Family Association
5 January 2007

http://www.wdcmedia.com/newsArticle.php?ID=2583

(AgapePress) - An increasing number of servicemen and women are  
confessing to pornography addictions and most government-run military  
base and post exchanges are only adding to the problem by selling it.

In 1996, Congress enacted the Military Honor and Decency Act, which  
bans military stores from selling sexually explicit material, but  
according to Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military  
Readiness, the act is not being enforced.

"Congress is going to have to take a look at this," Donnelly said.  
"Certainly the Pentagon is going to have to enforce those rules. It's  
a matter of good order and discipline and not just a matter of  
religion or free speech. It's a matter that the military itself needs  
to be concerned about."

[...]

Reilly said it's the combination of war stress and being away from  
loved ones that ignite the lust for pornography. Lust turns to  
addiction and addiction results in imitative behavior as seen in the  
Abu Ghraib photos -- made for and by porn addicts.

In The New Republic, Rochelle Gurstein described the Abu Ghraib  
photos as ones that "speak to the coercive and brutalizing nature of  
the pornographic imaginations so prevalent in our world today."

[More at URL]


----- 3 -----
Schools 'will have to promote gay rights'
Last updated at 22:00pm on 9th January 2007
Daily Mail

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html? 
in_article_id=427709&in_page_id=1770

New gay rights laws will force schools to teach homosexual equality,  
one of the country's most respected judges warned yesterday.

Teachers who tell pupils homosexual sex is wrong will be guilty of  
breaking the law, former Lord Chancellor Lord Mackay of Clashfern said.

Lord Mackay claimed the Sexual Orientation Regulations mean schools  
could no longer instruct children in "the importance of marriage for  
family life" - one of the key platforms of current sex education.

[More at URL]


----- 4 -----
New in America: Not Muslim, No Taxi
By YOUSSEF IBRAHIM
The New York Sun
January 8, 2007

http://www.nysun.com/article/46220?page_no=1

Islamic taxi drivers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport  
are refusing passengers carrying alcohol and blind folks with seeing- 
eye dogs because the animals' saliva is sacrilege according to Sharia  
law.

The enterprising Muslims during the past year have stranded 100  
passengers a month, sometimes for more than an hour, according to the  
Metropolitan Airports Commission, since three-fourths of the 900 taxi  
drivers servicing the airport are Somali Muslims who have decided to  
participate in the new discipline.

To make matters worse, a local outreach director of the ever-obliging  
Council on American-Islamic Relations, Damon Drake, dismissed the  
issue, saying, "Now that the Muslims are here, they need to be  
accommodated."

The issue originated 12 months ago when the airports commission  
received a fatwa, or religious edict, from the Minnesota chapter of  
the Muslim American Society. It stated that "Islamic jurisprudence"  
prohibits taxi drivers to carry passengers with alcohol "because it  
involves cooperating in sin."

[More at URL]


----- 5 -----
Pope Decries Low Birth Rates
Benedict says lack of children being born in Europe indicates many  
couples no longer want kids.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
01-09-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000003580.cfm

Pro-family groups are applauding Pope Benedict XVI for recent  
comments on the population decline in European countries. In a  
Vatican speech, he said low birth-rates in Europe indicate that many  
couples no longer want children.

On average, European countries like Italy and Spain have little more  
than one-child per couple. It takes two- to three-child families to  
sustain a country’s population. [Ed. note: the demographic average  
needed, iirc, is 2.1 children.]

[More at URL]


----- 6 -----
Stalled Judicial Nominees Withdraw
Bush court picks have been blocked for years by Senate liberals.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
01-09-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000003581.cfm

Three of President Bush's appeals court nominees -- long stonewalled  
by Democratic filibusters -- today asked to have their nominations  
withdrawn, according to The Associated Press.

The trio -- William Haynes, William Myers and Terrence Boyle -- have  
abandoned their quest for confirmation now that Democrats are the  
majority party in the Senate.

Another nominee, Mike Wallace, last month asked Bush to withdraw his  
nomination. Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the  
Family Action, said the withdrawals were sad.

[More at URL]


----- 7 -----
Abortion Ban Introduced in Georgia
Focus on the Family
01-09-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003578.cfm

A Georgia lawmaker today introduced a bill that would protect human  
life from the moment of conception and outlaw the killing of preborn  
children.

HB 1, sponsored by Rep. Bobby Franklin and co-sponsored by Rep.  
Melvin Everson, directly challenges Roe v. Wade -- the 1973 Supreme  
Court decision that legalized abortion.

The legislation reads, in part: "Justice Blackmun, writing for the  
majority in Roe v. Wade … wrote: ‘when those trained in the  
respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and the theology are  
unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in  
the development of man’s knowledge, is not in a position to speculate  
as to the answer (to the question of when life begins).’

"Now, 30 years later, the General Assembly knows the answer to that  
difficult question, and that answer is life begins at the moment of  
conception."

[More at URL]


----- 8 -----
Kansas AG Plans to Fire Prosecutor Assigned to Abortion Inquiry
Focus on the Family
01-09-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003577.cfm

Paul Morrison, chosen to replace Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline  
in November’s election, used his swearing-in ceremony to announce his  
intention to dismiss the special prosecutor in charge of reviewing  
the records of two abortion clinics under investigation, LifeNews.com  
reported.

[...]

"There is no doubt about the fact that we’re going to get rid of Mr.  
McKinney," Morrison said. "I’m going to revoke his powers as special  
prosecutor because I do not view him as being even remotely  
independent or remotely objective to view that."

[More at URL]


----- 9 -----
Vermont to Consider Same-Sex Marriage
Focus on the Family
01-09-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003579.cfm

Vermont state Rep. Mark Larsen plans to introduce this month or next  
a bill to allow same-sex couples to marry, WCAX-TV reported.

Beth Robinson, president of Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force, said  
the bill is a logical next step in a state that legalized civil  
unions for homosexual couples more than six years ago.

[...]

"If two people of the same sex want to have a relationship privately,  
that’s their business," he said. "If they want state sanctioning,  
that’s everybody’s business -- everybody ought to get to vote on it."

Take It To The People is pushing for a statewide vote on the issue as  
well as a federal marriage-protection amendment that would define  
marriage as the union of one man and one woman in the U.S. Constitution.

[More at URL]


----- 10 -----
Study: Plan B Doesn't Work
New study -- from advocates of the morning-after pill -- finds it  
doesn't live up to its promises.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
1-08-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000003572.cfm

The morning-after pill does not reduce the rate of pregnancy or  
abortion, according to a new study published in the January edition  
of the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Elizabeth Raymond and James Trussell, authors of the study found that  
increased access to emergency contraception did not decrease the  
number of unintended pregnancies. According to the authors -- who  
have been outspoken advocates for the morning-after pill --  
predictions of the drug's effectiveness have proven false.

[...]

Based on this study, Earll added, it would be appropriate for the FDA  
to reconsider and reverse the over-the-counter status of the drug.

"This drug should revert to prescription-only," she said, "and this  
is the time to do that."

[Editor's note: How to change a study's result: if I've connected the  
dots correctly, this pair of researchers reported that Plan B's  
availability has not had an effect on pregnancy or abortion rates,  
and stated that the methodology for determining field effectiveness  
of the drug is flawed; they point out that there are serious problems  
with self-reporting on these kinds of issues, since ECP usage is  
overwhelmingly in nonclinical environments, and many takers may not  
have needed birth control at all. This is an entirely valid  
criticism. Focus on the Family, however, changes that to "proof" that  
Plan B "doesn't work" - and should be made prescription-only. Note  
also for political agenda note-taking purposes that this is emergency  
contraception, _not_ RU-486, the "abortion pill"]

[More at URL]


----- 11 -----
White House Calls for Ethical Stem-Cell Research
Report outlines the reasons why science -- and Congress -- should  
focus on methods that do not destroy embryonic life.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
1-10-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000003597.cfm

The White House Domestic Policy Council is calling on Congress to  
fund stem-cell research that does not destroy human embryos.

The Domestic Policy Council study cites a report in the January  
edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology by Dr. Anthony Atala of  
the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University  
that highlights a discovery amniotic fluid is a plentiful source of  
stem cells.

"While the research is still developing, Dr. Atala and his team  
believe that these amniotic stem cells may be fully as flexible as  
embryonic stem cells, while having other medical advantages," the  
report states. "They are easier to grow than human embryonic stem  
cells and they do not form tumors (a problem that has plagued  
embryonic stem-cell use.)"

[...]

TAKE ACTION/FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact your U.S. representative and ask him or her to oppose any  
bill that supports research that will destroy human embryos. If you  
are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue "Take  
Action" button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our  
Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.

[More at URL]


----- 12 -----
Louisiana Nurse to Get Day in Court
Health-care professionals are being punished for not handing out the  
so-called morning-after pill.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
1-10-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000003596.cfm

A Louisiana nurse demoted after refusing to distribute the "morning- 
after pill" will go to trial soon.

Attorney Brian Arabie said when his client, Toni Lemly, refused to  
distribute the drug to clients at the St. Tammany Parish Hospital two  
years ago because of her religious beliefs, officials took away her  
full-time status -- allowing her to only work three days a week.

"This case is about protecting a person’s freedom of conscience,"  
Arabie said, "particularly when it’s guided by religious beliefs."

[More at URL]


----- 13 -----
Washington Lawmakers Consider 'Marriage-Equality' Bill
Focus on the Family
1-10-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003595.cfm

A Washington state lawmaker plans to introduce legislation that would  
give same-sex couples the benefits of marriage, the Seattle Times  
reported.

State Sen. Ed Murray, a Democrat, and four colleagues announced plans  
to introduce what they've termed a "marriage-equality" bill that  
would create domestic partnerships for homosexual couples.

"The goal is marriage equality," Murray said. "It's an important  
statement that our eyes are on the prize, and the prize is marriage."

Gary Randall, president of the Faith and Freedom Network, said his  
group will work to block the legislation.

[Editor's note: It's interesting that they don't note that Ed Murray  
is gay. Possibly because they don't like showing GBLT people in  
positions of elected authority? I don't know.]


----- 14 -----
Court Will Rehear South Dakota Informed-Consent Case
Focus on the Family
1-10-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003594.cfm

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will again hear a challenge to  
a South Dakota law that requires physicians to tell abortion-minded  
women the procedure ends a human life, KELO-TV reported.

Doctors would also have to explain that women who have an abortion  
may experience psychological problems such as depression.

[More at URL]


----- 15 -----
Petition Congress, Defend Your Rights
Dobson asks listeners to flood Senate with calls on lobbying- 
crackdown bill.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
1-10-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000003592.cfm

Focus on the Family Action Chairman James C. Dobson, Ph.D., today  
called on Americans to contact their senators about a measure he said  
constitutes "a grave threat" to freedom of speech.

"Democrats and a few Republicans are trying very, very quickly to  
insulate themselves from the public -- and to do it by muzzling  
people like us," Dobson said on his Focus on the Family radio broadcast.

S. 1, a lobbying-reform bill, is the first to come to a vote in the  
new Democrat-controlled Congress. One of its many provisions would  
require grassroots groups to report directly to the secretary of the  
Senate and clerk of the House any time they spend money to  
communicate to their constituents on public-policy issues that are  
before Congress.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said Section 220 would  
subject such groups to miles of red tape and greatly increase their  
costs -- difficulties that could critically hamper their ability to  
rally constituents to contact their elected officials.

"This should be called the 'Silence the Citizens Act of 2007,' "  
Perkins said.

The bill is so complex that, even though it appears to exempt  
churches from its provisions, it might not actually do so.

[...]

TAKE ACTION:
We created an urgent petition for you to sign that is addressed to  
your senators asking them to ensure the unfair grassroots provisions  
are removed from S.1.

You may read the text of S. 1, including Section 220, on the Library  
of Congress Web site. Under "Search Bill text" enter "S. 1" and click  
"Search."

You may also click here to listen to today's Focus on the Family  
broadcast online.

[More at URL]


----- 16 -----
Kansas Abortion Prosecutor Fired by New Attorney General
Focus on the Family
1-11-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003604.cfm

Newly elected Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison fired a special  
prosecutor Tuesday who was to investigate late-term abortionist  
George Tiller.
"You are further ordered to cease and desist any further activity in  
this matter," Morrison wrote in a letter to McKinney.

Don McKinney had been appointed by former Attorney General Phill  
Kline, who had made investigating the abortion industry a priority.

According to The Associated Press, McKinney said Morrison was acting  
to "protect the abortion clinics."

"Morrison said he would fire me because I was not a 'neutral third  
party.' That's a smoke screen," McKinney said. "Nobody is neutral  
about aborting late-term babies. A special prosecutor isn't supposed  
to be neutral, he's supposed to prosecute the defendant."

[More at URL]


----- 17 -----
Amendment Offered to Protect Grassroots Lobbying
Fax your senators a prewritten message that you support the amendment  
to strike Section 220 of S. 1
by Stephen Adams, associate editor
Focus on the Family
1-11-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000003607.cfm

A legislative fix was offered today that could kill an onerous  
measure in the Senate that threatens the right of citizens to  
influence their lawmakers.

It all depends on how the votes line up next week.

The lobbying-reform bill numbered S. 1 contains a provision --  
Section 220 -- that would require grassroots organizations and  
churches to file federal reports on communications that urge people  
to speak out on public-policy issues.

Tens of thousands of phone calls, faxes and e-mails in opposition to  
the provision flooded Senate offices in response to appeals from  
groups including Focus on the Family Action.

Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, introduced an amendment to strike the  
provision according to his communications director, Emily Christensen.

An aide to Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he is a co-sponsor of  
the amendment. That’s significant because not only is McConnell now  
minority leader in the Senate, but he’s also one of the Republican co- 
sponsors of S. 1.

Focus on the Family Action Chairman James C. Dobson, Ph.D., termed  
the legislation a “grave threat” to First Amendment rights.  
Consequently, Focus Action launched its first-ever petition drive on  
Wednesday to rally opposition to the provision.

[...]

“Clearly, the objective here is to hide what goes on from the  
public,” Dobson said of the intent of Section 220. “And to punish and  
silence those of us who would talk about what the Congress is doing.”

[...]

TAKE ACTION:
Let your senators know you support the Bennett amendment. We've  
prepared a special prewritten fax that you can send for free through  
the CitizenLink Action Center.

If you are a CitizenLink subscriber, click the blue "Fax Your  
Senator" button on the right side of the e-mail to be automatically  
logged in to the Action Center.

Otherwise, click on this link.

[More at URL]


----- 18 -----
Senators Hearing the Grassroots Loud and Clear
Focus on the Family
12 January 2007

[Received in email; no URL]

Opposition to a provision in S. 1 that would hinder the free speech  
of grassroots lobbying groups, such as Focus on the Family Action,  
has resulted in a tidal wave of faxes, phone calls and petition  
signatures from voters.

More than 25,000 faxes have been sent to Senate offices through the  
CitizenLink Action Center. About 65,000 people have signed a petition  
asking for the objectionable Section 220 to be struck. And insiders  
on Capitol Hill have described the number of phone calls as a  
"deluge" and a "flood."

Focus on the Family Action Founder and Chairman James C. Dobson,  
Ph.D., is scheduled to be a guest on Fox News Channel's Hannity &  
Colmes this evening. Dobson will talk about how the provision would  
tie him up in miles of red tape whenever he tells people about  
legislation before Congress.

If you have not done so already, we encourage you to send faxes to  
your senators via the CitizenLink Action Center. The message is  
prewritten and the service is free. Just click on the blue "Fax Your  
Senators" button on the right side of this e-mail to be automatically  
logged in to the Action Center.

Then sign the petition at www.focuspetitions.com . Please share that  
link with your likeminded friends.


----- 19 -----
Liberal Groups Fuel the National Council of Churches
A study of funding reveals politics, not theology, is the driving  
force behind the group.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
01-12-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000003620.cfm

The financially troubled National Council of Churches (NCC) has sold  
its biblical roots for money from secular foundations bent on using  
it to forward a liberal agenda, according to a report by The  
Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD).

John Lomperis and Alan Wisdom, the report's authors, said for decades  
the NCC was supported by member denominations -- but not anymore.

"What was founded as a body comprised of churches seeking to come  
together in Christian unity," Wisdom said, "has become a political- 
action committee that’s not a creature of the churches anymore.

[...]

Dr. Janice Crouse, senior fellow at Concerned Women for America's  
Beverly LaHaye Institute, offered a strong warning.

"When you cloak all of those cultural concerns and left-wing agenda  
items with the cloak of religion and with the mainstream churches,  
then you are giving them a stamp of approval that they should not  
have," she said. "Most of the religious left is arguing for positions  
that are not based in the scripture."

[More at URL]


----- 20 -----
Clinton, Carter Support Liberal Baptist Group
Former chief executives side with renegade Southern Baptists for  
liberal activism.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
01-12-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000003617.cfm

Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton are lending support  
to next year’s gathering of the self-proclaimed Moderate Baptists.  
Their aim, they say, is to improve the image of Baptists and to  
broaden the agenda of Baptist churches.

At a recent gathering at Atlanta's Mercer University, Clinton and  
Carter told the group to seek unity on issues like religious  
diversity, ecology and racism.

But Russell Moore, dean of the School of Theology at the Southern  
Baptist Theological Seminary, told Family News in Focus it's  
important to keep in mind the former presidents' audience was  
comprised of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

"The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is a group of disaffected former  
Southern Baptists," Moore said. "They have no confessional statement.  
They’re really united around what they don’t believe and what they  
don’t believe is essentially everything the Southern Baptist  
Convention does believe."

He said it's nothing new for left-leaning Baptists to have Carter’s  
endorsement -- he left the Southern Baptist Convention in 2000. But  
he said it is news for them to have Bill Clinton's voice.

"I cannot believe that a group of self-professing Baptists would  
welcome as a participant in a convocation a man who vetoed  
legislation protecting unborn children from partial-birth abortion,"  
Moore said.

[More at URL]


----- 21 -----
African Anglicans Snub Pro-Gay Bishop
Focus on the Family
01-12-2007

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003615.cfm

Leading African bishops in the worldwide Anglican Communion say they  
will not meet with their counterpart from the American Episcopal  
Church during a global church summit set to get under way next month  
in the African nation of Tanzania, according to Reuters.

U.S. Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the head of the American  
branch of the church, is a prominent backer of same-sex marriage and  
the consecration of homosexual V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New  
Hampshire in 2003.

One of the African church leaders, Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola,  
has gone so far as to form a pact with congregations in the U.S.  
wanting to split from the Episcopal Church over the issue.


----- 22 -----
Strategy for Gay Marriage Begins in Washington
Friday, January 12, 2007
Faith and Freedom Network

http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2007/01/strategy-for-gay- 
marriage-begins-in.html

Senator Ed Murray – D, Seattle, said yesterday at a press conference  
that he and his colleagues would be advancing two bills next week –  
probably Tuesday. Both bills are designed to move toward gay marriage  
or what gay activists are calling “marriage equality.”

In fact, Murray told the press it was the first step toward marriage  
equality. He and other lawmakers pledged to continue pushing for same  
sex marriage and said they would work incrementally toward that goal  
and would not go away.

One of their forth coming bills would legalize same-sex marriage. The  
other is designed to create a domestic partnership registry designed  
around healthcare and death benefits.

The “domestic partnership” bill is clearly their fall back position  
in case the same-sex marriage bill fails.

We will do everything we can do to defeat both bills.

The domestic partnership bill will be difficult because it provides  
benefits for both homosexuals and un-married couples where one is  
over 62 years old.

[More at URL]


----- 23 -----
Gay Marriage Bill to be Introduced Today in Olympia
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Faith and Freedom Network

http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2007/01/gay-marriage-bill-to-be- 
introduced.html

As we had predicted, a coalition of gay lawmakers in the state House  
and Senate plan to introduce legislation that would extend the right  
to marry to gay and lesbian couples in Washington State.

We understand that the basis of the bill they plan to introduce to  
the press today will essentially be a “domestic partnership” benefits  
kind of bill.

Senator Ed Murray told the press yesterday that, “The goal is  
marriage equality. It’s an important statement that our eyes are on  
the prize, and the prize is marriage.”

That, of course, would be gay marriage.

I spoke to a number of reporters yesterday and was quoted in the  
Seattle Times as saying, “We feel it is contrary to our biblical and  
theological beliefs on marriage and morality.” I also said that we  
feel civil unions, reciprocal benefits and domestic partnerships all  
introduce a new class of entitlements to an economic system that is  
already stretched to capacity. They also serve as a gateway or  
incremental step toward gay marriage.

[...]

Ten years ago, Rev. H.B. London, Vice President for Clergy Outreach  
at Focus on the Family, and a longtime friend of mine, told the  
Minnesota Family Council at a convention convened primarily to  
discuss the issue of marriage, “Whether the odds are for or against  
us, we must take a stand, and you pastors must lead that stand. It’s  
not so much that we have to win, but God requires that we stand up  
for what matters.”

[More at URL]


----- 24 -----
Senate Tired of Your E-mails, Phone Calls; Expected to Pass Bill that  
Will Keep You From Getting Needed Information.
American Family Association
ACTION ALERT
January 11, 2006

http://www.afa.net/senatebill1.htm

Without a doubt, this could be the most important letter I have  
written you.

The U.S. Senate is poised to pass Senate Bill 1 (Section 220), which  
would effectively keep AFA and every other pro-family organization in  
America from providing you information on bills in Congress. Under  
Senate Bill 1 (Section 220), we would only be able to provide you  
information on a bill at a high cost and at great danger of being  
penalized by Congress.

To put it bluntly, members of Congress are tired of getting your e- 
mails and phone calls, and Senate Bill 1(Section 220) is designed to  
keep information from you that might inspire you to call or write  
your senator.

Click Here to read AFA's review of Senate Bill 1 (Section 220).

[More at URL]


----- 25 -----
Ford Sales Drop 13% in December
American Family Association
January 5, 2007

http://www.afa.net/ford010506.htm

Company sponsors another TV scene of homosexuals kissing. View video  
clip below.

The AFA boycott of Ford Motor Company continues to impact its sales.  
December sales dropped 13% compared to the same period a year ago.

In December of 2005, Ford agreed to basically follow the path taken  
by Wal-Mart — remain neutral in the culture war over the homosexual  
agenda. However, Ford later reneged on that agreement after meeting  
with a group of homosexual leaders. AFA has continued to ask Ford to  
take a neutral stance like Wal-Mart, but Ford has consistently refused.

[...]

Ford also continues to sponsor TV programs promoting homosexuality.  
On a recent episode of Cold Case on CBS, Ford sponsored scenes  
depicting two homosexuals passionately kissing each other. Click here  
to view the scene.

Despite the fact that not a single homosexual group has come to the  
defense of Ford, the company continues to support that agenda.

It appears that Ford is willing to continue its support of the  
homosexual agenda even if it means going into bankruptcy.

[More at URL]


----- 26 -----
Sears Supports Homosexual TV Network With Advertising
Focus on the Family
December 7, 2006

http://www.afa.net/aa120806.asp

Two-minute infomercials sponsored explicitly by Sears helps keep the  
homosexual network on the air.

Sears has thrown its support to the LOGO network. LOGO is the 24-hour  
cable television network dedicated to programming for lesbians, gays,  
bisexuals and transgenders according to a homosexual advertising  
website. It is carried on many cable systems around the country. Many  
of you have been forced to accept it as part of your cable package.  
Sears is now helping to make it mainstream!

Sear's advertising will help LOGO air shows like "Sex 2K Drag Kings,"  
"The Gayest and Greatest of 2006," and "Transgeneration."

Sears advertising (two-minute infomercials) will go to help the  
fledging network get on firm financial ground. Sears advertising is  
financing LOGO's push to legalize homosexual marriage in addition to  
promoting the homosexual lifestyle.

Sears is owned by Kmart Corporation.

Take Action

1. Send an email to Sears asking them to cancel their advertising on  
LOGO.

2. Call your local Sears store and ask why Sears is supporting the  
homosexual network with its advertising.

3. Forward this email to your friends and family.

[More at URL]


----- 27 -----
Commentary & News Briefs
January 12, 2007
Compiled by Jody Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/afa/122007h.asp

...A leading pro-life advocate contends there's one reason that so  
many politicians support the destruction of human embryos for  
"research" -- and that reason is not so that a cure for a disease can  
be found. Judie Brown, president of American Life League, says  
despite the fact that adult stem cells have already been used to  
treat diseases and that stem cells derived from the amniotic fluid of  
pregnant women have shown promise, proponents of embryonic stem-cell  
research, or ESCR, continue to push the practice for one reason:  
money. Brown assets that some members of Congress see the substantial  
amounts of money that biotech firms are investing in ESCR -- and  
those lawmakers, she believes, want to see more and more money poured  
into it as well. "Not because it will ever ultimately result in a  
cure for a disease," she says, "but because there's big money to be  
made in manufactured hearts, livers, and other body parts." It is  
evident to her, she shares, that those members of Congress are "more  
interested in extending their own lives into immortality than they  
are in honesty." Brown says it is not surprising that these lawmakers  
would condone the killing of human beings in the embryonic stage,  
since they also believe in the killing of unborn children right up  
until birth -- and, in some cases, during birth. [Rusty Pugh]

[...]

...The head of a pro-Israel ministry says reading Jimmy Carter's new  
book makes it easy to wonder if the former president is anti-Semitic.  
The former president's book is called Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,  
which is especially critical of Israeli policy. The book has been  
attacked from several quarters, including some of Carter's fellow  
Democrats. In fact, 14 members of the advisory board of the Carter  
Center have resigned over its contents. The Center is a human-rights  
organization begun by the former chief executive and his wife. Jan  
Markell of Olive Tree Ministries says one cannot help but wonder if  
Mr. Carter is anti-Semitic. "Now I don't know; I'm not going to sit  
here and judge his spiritual condition," says the ministry leader.  
"But I would have to say that some of the actions and some of the  
comments in the book itself definitely make you think that he is anti- 
Semitic." Markell says she is deeply offended by Carter tying the  
term "apartheid" to the nation of Israel. She comments that  
Palestinians are treated better there than in any of the Muslim- 
controlled countries. [Chad Groening]

[More at URL]


----- 28 -----
Pro-Life Leaders High on Georgia 'Personhood' Bill
It's the Best Approach Yet to Stop Abortion, They Say
By Rusty Pugh and Jody Brown
American Family Association
January 12, 2007

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/afa/122007b.asp

(AgapePress) - Nationally prominent pro-life leaders are lending  
their support to a proposed bill in the Georgia Legislature that  
would define personhood as beginning at conception. They see the  
measure as a major step toward the landmark Roe v. Wade decision  
being overturned.

If passed, House Bill 1 (HB1) would make history, say pro-lifers,  
because it would answer the question that has been at the crux of the  
abortion debate for more than 30 years. The measure would establish  
that every human life begins at the moment of conception, eliminating  
any gray area that currently exists surrounding the definition of  
"personhood." Read twice before a committee in the Georgia State  
House earlier this week, the bill now awaits consideration.

Judie Brown, president of American Life League (ALL), explains the  
significance of HB1 as it pertains to the 1973 Supreme Court ruling  
that legalized abortion on demand in America. "When Justice Blackmun  
wrote [for the majority in] the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, he said  
that if personhood is ever established, the Supreme Court's decision  
would fall," she notes. "And a bill like the Georgia bill would make  
it possible for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade in such a  
way that every single abortion in the United States would end  
immediately."

In other words, she says, if the bill passes and ultimately makes it  
to Supreme Court on appeal, it will force the high court to "answer  
the question they've never answered -- and that is, whether or not  
the innocent child in the womb is a human being, a person, just like  
you and me."

Flip Benham with Operation Save America appears as enthusiastic as  
Brown about the legislation. "[W]ithout a doubt, [this is] the very  
best bill that any state has brought before its legislative body  
yet," he says in a press release. "It is truly an all-out declaration  
that human life begins at conception and therefore is due protection  
under the color of law."

[More at URL]


----- 29 -----
Lobby Reform Legislation to Be Voted on Next Week
Amelia Wigton
Concerned Women for America
January 12, 2007

http://www.cwalac.org/article_398.shtml

The Senate will soon consider and vote on the Legislative  
Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007 (S. 1).  While Concerned  
Women for America (CWA) certainly supports efforts by Congress to  
reform lobbying practices – in light of recent scandals involving  
corrupt lobbyists such as Jack Abramoff – this bill unfortunately  
includes a negative measure that CWA is hopeful will be stripped out  
by a proposed amendment.
Amendment 20, proposed by Senator Robert Bennett (R-Utah) and co- 
sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky),  
will remove the harmful provisions that could severely impair how  
grassroots organizations communicate with their constituents  
regarding legislative matters.  Additionally, it will help to reform  
lobbying issues highlighted by the Abramoff scandal while protecting  
grassroots organizations who alert their constituents to key events  
and action needed on Capitol Hill.  CWA applauds Senators Bennett and  
McConnell for respecting the rights of the American people while  
working to reform lobbying practices.
Last year, the 109th Congress worked on similar legislation that  
aimed to reform lobbying rules, but lawmakers were unable to pass a  
final version for the President to sign.  The bill in the last  
Congress contained the same dangerous provisions which would cripple  
the ability of grassroots organizations like CWA to communicate with  
our members who count on us to provide them with key information they  
can get from no other source.
CWA urges the Senate to vote for Amendment 20 when the bill (S. 1)  
comes up for consideration.  Transparency and accountability are  
vital for D.C. lobbyists, but that’s not what America gets when  
Congress tries to keep grassroots citizen activists from getting  
information like this newsflash through groups like CWA that they  
freely support and rely upon.  CWA urges its supporters to call their  
senators and urge them to vote FOR Amendment 20 when the Senate  
considers S. 1.  The Capitol Switchboard is 202-224-3121.


----- 30 -----
'Gays' in the Military - a Troop 'Surge' Liberals Support
Concerned Women for America
1/11/2007
By J. Matt Barber

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12158/CWA/family/index.htm

In the middle of the debate on Iraq, liberals plan a push to lift the  
military's ban on openly homosexual men and women in the service

Liberals in Washington are very vocal in opposition to the  
president's planned deployment of additional troops to the Iraqi  
theatre, but in the culture war on the home front, those same  
liberals are prepared to enthusiastically push for an "escalation" in  
troop enlistment by repealing the military's "don't ask, don't tell"  
policy and permitting openly homosexual men and women to sign up.  
(Move over National Guard and Green Berets - make way for the avant- 
garde and Lavender Berets.)

"The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network," the "Human Rights  
Campaign," and a host of other powerful and extremely well-funded pro- 
homosexual activist groups are leading the charge. But it's the new  
Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-California.), who's sounding  
the shrill bugle call.

According to the Washington Blade, a top 'gay' publication, Pelosi  
has signed on to the homosexual lobby's top-ten 'gay' wish-list as a  
"co-sponsor for all 10 gay- and AIDS-related bills that are  
languishing in Congress." Of those ten bills, the innocuously titled  
"Military Readiness Enhancement Act" - which would repeal "don't ask,  
don't tell" - is a top priority.

Other liberals are weighing in as well. On January 2nd, The New York  
Times fired off a real opinion piece dud. "Second Thoughts on Gays in  
the Military" was penned by blast from the past, John Shalikashvili,  
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the Clinton  
administration. Needless to say, Shalikashvili's column sorely missed  
its target.

In the piece, Shalikashvili opines that "don't ask, don't tell" has  
outlived its usefulness and that it was only "a useful speed bump  
that allowed temperatures to cool for a period of time while the  
culture continued to evolve."

[More at URL]


----- 31 -----
CWA Says American Broadcasters Should Learn from Japanese
Concerned Women for America
1/2/2007

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12089/MEDIA/misc/index.htm

Washington, D.C. –––Prompted by hundreds of complaints from viewers  
who were offended by scantily-dressed dancers on a New Year’s Eve  
program, Japanese broadcasters apologized before the program was even  
over for their indiscretion. Concerned Women for America (CWA) says  
that U.S. broadcasters should learn a lesson from the Japanese  
industry’s quick apology and stop pushing the bounds of decency.

CWA’s Chief Counsel Jan LaRue said, “The quick and contrite apology  
by the Japanese is a stark contrast to the way American broadcasters  
have handled viewer complaints. CBS, for example, insulted the  
public’s intelligence with a phony apology for Janet Jackson’s  
‘wardrobe malfunction’ and now argues in court that it did nothing  
wrong by broadcasting the indecency. The networks are continuing to  
push the bounds of decency to see how much smut they can get away with.

“This incident proves that average people all around the world do not  
want to be subject to offensive programming. The Japanese who called  
in and complained after this show did their country and their  
families a huge service and they saw immediate results. If only  
American broadcasters would heed the complaints of their viewers,  
they might actually provide family-friendly entertainment rather than  
mere shock value.”


For Information Contact:
Stacey Holliday
(202) 488-7000
media.cwfa.org


----- 32 -----
Talking Points: Amniotic Stem Cell Research
Concerned Women for America
1/10/2007
By Janice Shaw Crouse

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12150/BLI/life/index.htm

Benefits:

* Provides a source for stem cells without obtaining them from  
aborted babies or from lab-created-and-destroyed human embryos
* The amniotic fluid (and placenta) contain "multiple progenitor cell  
types"
* Definitively shows that there is no need to destroy human embryos  
in order to treat disease or otherwise benefit mankind
* This method of obtaining stem cells is medically effective, proven  
and promising without violating any ethical standards
* Can be developed in large quantities and do not develop tumors as  
embryonic stem cells do
* A research line of 100,000 cells would satisfy 99 percent of all  
research needs
* Provides every type of stem cell needed for therapy and healing  
without moral concerns
* Does not depend on "live human embryonic experimentation"
* Scientific research proves that the moral choice is also the  
healthiest and most effective way to find cures
* Medical science can move forward without costing innocent lives
* Real scientific progress does not threaten or manipulate the  
sources of life

[More at URL]